§ 49. Mr. Swinglerasked the Secretary of State for Technical Co-operation what consultations have taken place with Commonwealth Governments in Africa with regard to the extension of the Low Priced Books Scheme; what machinery has been used by his Department for assessing the needs of the territories concerned in co-operation with their Government Departments; and from which Commonwealth Governments, respectively, replies have been received.
Mr. CarrThe Low-Priced University text-book Scheme was extended last May to West Africa, which includes the four Commonwealth countries Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Gambia. The Government of Ghana had previously asked for the university text-books. The Governments of Nigeria and Sierra Leone and Gambia were consulted appropriately. The needs of the three former
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§ Mr. RipponMy Ministry collects from the Building Societies figures of the prices of houses on which they have given mortgages and calculates an index number.
The index numbers for the years 1956 to 1963 are published in the January issue of the Monthly Digest of Statistics issued by the Central Statistical Office. They are given below. Corresponding figures for the years 1951 to 1955 are not available, because arrangements to collect them were not completed until 1956.
countries were assessed by members of the High Commission staffs and by representatives of the British Council, in consultation with the offices of the Commonwealth Governments concerned, university and other education authorities and the book trade. The possible further extension of the scheme to East Africa is now being considered.